L6 - Introduction to Drosophila Flashcards
Positives of mice as animal models?
Good genetics
Well established model
Negatives of mice as animal models?
Expensive
Slow reproductive cycle
Ethical restrictions/home office
Positives of chicks as animal models?
Accessible embryology
Low cost
Negatives of chicks as animal models?
No genetics
Ethical restrictions/home office
Positives of zebrafish as animal models?
Accessible embryology
Reasonable low cost
Negatives of zebrafish as animal models?
Genetics problematic
Ethical restrictions
Positives of drosophila as animal models?
Accessible embryology and adult developmental stages Very low cost Fast reproductive cycle Good genetics No ethical restrictions
Negatives of drosophila as animal models?
Not a vertebrate
Kept at live stocks
Drosophila life cycle
Live around 60 days
Life cycle
- 10 days at 25oC
- 21 days at 18oC
Drosophila life cycle stages
- Fertilised egg (cleavage)
- Syncytial blastoderm (gastrulation)
- Embryo (hatching)
- Larva
- Pupa (metamorphis)
- Adult fly
Drosophila history - 1910
Morgan discovered a white eyed fly
Drosophila history - 1913
Sturtevant constructed first genetic map - genes arranged in a linear order
Drosophila history - 1914
Bridges showed that chromosomes must contain genes
Drosophila history - 1927
Muller showed that X-rays cause mutations and chromosomal rearrangements
Drosophila history - 1980
Christiane Nüsslein-Volhard and Eric Wischaus undertook a saturation mutagenesis to identify genes involved in development and patterning of larval cuticle